Dear St. Lukers,
Where have you seen the Holy Spirit this week?
We launched our wilderness journey last week being reminded that even – or especially – in the wilderness, God provides for us. God shows up with what we need to make the journey through the wildernesses of our lives.
This week, we begin naming the elements that are often used as God’s means of grace in those wilderness times. So again, I wonder – where have you seen the Holy Spirit show up in your wilderness this week?
The camp I grew up going to had a tradition in our wilderness camps of what we called “Goodnights.” At the end of each day, the way we said “goodnight” as a group was to name where we had seen God that day. There’s a good chance you’ve participated in a similar ritual – whether you called it “God sightings” or “glory sightings,” or just a response to the question of “Where have you seen God today?”
While we usually use the full Trinitarian language of “where have you seen God,” in those moments what we’re really talking about is where we’ve seen the movement of the Holy Spirit. How have we been open to noticing what’s around us in a different way? How have we chosen a posture of awareness for what God might do among us? It’s why we have invited you to walk through your week leading up to Sunday worship with our Lenten Guide, beginning on Sunday evening choosing one of the four images for the week’s theme. Which one did you choose this week? How has it – or maybe one of the others – guided you as you consider the power and movement of the Holy Spirit?
In our Sunday Night Bible Study, it was fascinating to hear both Rev. Dr. Ebby Arnold’s lecture that showed us how the Spirit has shown up as a creative and transforming force throughout Scripture, but also to hear St. Lukers share stories of where the Spirit has shown up for them as well. As you close out your week and move toward our gathering this week in worship, I want to invite you to keep looking out for the Spirit all around you, and bring those experiences on Sunday as we explore all the ways the Spirit shows up in our lives, and in the lives of our spiritual ancestors.
And if you see me – come tell me “goodnight” so I can hear how you’ve seen the Spirit this week!
Pastor Melissa